Teacups and Teapots
by joli.kawaii.ciel
Summary: To revitalise Funtom which is in danger of bankruptcy, Ciel expands the business by opening a teashop at his aunt's suggestion that only hires good looking waiters. One of the candidates is a man named Sebastian Michaelis... CielxSebastian. Present Day AU
1. First Cup

**Teacups and Teapots**

**Summary: **To revitalise Funtom which is in danger of bankruptcy, Ciel expands the business by opening a teashop at his aunt's suggestion that only hires good looking waiters. One of the candidates is a man named Sebastian Michaelis... CielxSebastian.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 1:<strong>

The CEO and owner of his family business, Funtom, scowled as he went through pages of spreadsheets, charts and sales forecasts that all conveyed the same message; he was losing money. Ciel Phantomhive and taken over the family business upon the murder of his parents and after being rescued from his kidnappers when he was 13 and had led the company through various crises including the recession and now at the age of 19, he was at his wit's end.

He picked up the phone on his desk and dialled the number of his aunt who was a shareholder as well as one of his father's acquaintances Tanaka who was another shareholder to request an urgent meeting regarding the future of the company.

"To put it simply, our sales have been falling for the past three months," he informed them abruptly once they were seated in front of his desk. "I feel that it is only fair to tell you both since you are heavily involved with Funtom and have a say in all decisions."

His red haired aunt leaned closer. "How bad is it?"

As an answer he handed her a stack of paper detailing statistics and predicted trends in growth and she and Tanaka pored over them together.

"It is likely that we will last another two years before we go into bankruptcy and have to be bailed out," Ciel sighed sadly. "Dad must be rolling in his grave at the prospect."

"Is there anything that can be done to prevent it?" Madam Red enquired worriedly. "Why are the sales falling in the first place?"

Ciel tapped the desk with his ring irritably. "For the toys, it's mainly competition from cheaper brands that produce their products less ethically than us and the products tend to be lower quality, but the general public don't seem to care about that. As for the confectionary, parents are finally now worried about their children's teeth which is good for them and bad for us."

"What happened to the line of sugar free sweets? I know they were produced successfully in the test kitchen," his aunt brightened. "Maybe we can use them."

Ciel shook his head. "The only sugar substitute that produced the right consistency was Lycasin and it caused all the taste testers to have some... toilet problems. The upstairs toilets are blocked off for a reason."

Both of the shareholders in front of him winced and were silent for a moment before Madam Red returned to the forefront with a suggestion.

"We can advertise them as being perfect for revenge."

Her nephew rolled his eyes. "That would cause more problems than good. Do either of you have any _sensible _suggestions?"

"We could move one of our bigger factories overseas, it would keep labour and material costs down," Tanaka suggested.

"No," Ciel said immediately. "That would go against the values of Funtom. Keeping production here has given us a good reputation."

"What about expanding to a new market?"

The owner of Funtom looked sharply at Tanaka "Name a market that is not saturated already."

The older man retreated into silence as Ciel went through all the trend forecasts for future months.

"There should be a temporary seasonal rise in sales next month as it will be the Christmas shopping period-" he was cut off by his aunt.

"I have an idea, Ciel."

Ciel asked the obvious question. "Is is sensible and viable?"

"Just listen without interrupting," she ordered and Ciel instantly inferred that it was not going to be sensible. Then again there was nothing to lose by listening to her so he nodded and waved his hand to signal that she could speak.

"I brought something for your birthday a few days ago," she began, her opening sentence causing Ciel to arch his eyebrows.

His birthday presents from his aunt had always been on a completely different level to all of the other presents he received. Last year she had rented out the London Eye for the evening and had invited random passer bys in an effort for him to make friends which had not worked well to say the least.

"I purchased some premises in Piccadilly Circus. I was planning to turn them into a nice little teashop for you as I know how much you like your tea."

Ciel smiled briefly before turning serious again. "How does this fit in with your idea? There are a surplus of cafes and coffee shops in London as it is."

Madam Red held up a finger, her fingernail painted red to match her outfit and nickname.

"There will be a unique selling point. It won't be like any other teashop."

Ciel shot her a sceptical look as she continued on.

"These days, especially in large cities like London, it is hard to get decent service anywhere so we could incorporate that as customers will be more likely to return if they are served well. They would also be more likely to return if the person they were being served by was good looking," she explained happily. "We just need to hire some good looking waiters and wait for the customers."

Her nephew face palmed. He should not have bothered listening to her if she was going to come up with something like this.

"Who would the target market be?" he asked hesitantly, not entirely sure if he wanted to hear anymore of the idea.

"Females."

"Teenage girls? Perhaps it would be better to appeal to a market with more disposable income," Tanaka said, seeming to be as confused as Ciel.

"Females of all ages, of course. You will see," she smirked. "What do you think?"

The CEO and the other shareholder exchanged looks which did not go unnoticed by Madam Red.

"Well, neither of you have come up with something," she interjected. "I've already brought the premises and started building work so we might as well go ahead."

"I don't see any harm in doing a trial," Tanaka agreed and they both turned to the CEO expectantly who did not look happy with them.

He glared before replying. "I think the idea is ridiculous and won't work," he sighed. "However you can go ahead with it for the moment. Good luck on finding some good looking waiters to work for you, Madam Red."

On hearing that, she clapped her hands excitedly and grabbed his hand to pull him out from behind his desk.

"Let's go then!"

"Where?" Ciel demanded as he was dragged out of his office.

Ten minutes later they were standing in Oxford Circus and Madam Red holding a pair of binoculars to scan the crowd. Ciel debated sneaking off back to the office whilst she was occupied with her search, but he did not fancy looking at depressing statistics and part of him wanted to see if she would actually succeed in her search. He watched her binoculars focus in on a young man with blonde hair clipped back with red hair pins.

"I like that one!" she shouted before running after him down the street.

Eventually she returned with two other males in addition to the one Ciel had seen. All the candidates looked to be complete opposites of each other. One was a taller and darker blonde with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth which was dripping ash over the pavement. Another was a long haired redhead who looked completely psychotic to Ciel due to the skulls on his glasses and the pointy teeth. He began to feel even more misgivings than he had before.

"Hello, I'm Finny," the one who looked the youngest greeted him. "Are you really a CEO? You look too young."

"I agree," the redhead drawled and produced a nail file out of his pocket and began filing his nails in the middle of the street. "I'm Grell Sutcliffe in case you wanted to know, brat."

Ciel narrowed his eyes at him and decided he needed a talk with the person who came up with the idea. He tapped his aunt on the shoulder and stood on his tiptoes to whisper in her ear.

"Are you sure that you have selected the right people?"

"We need different types to get a wide customer base," she hissed back.

Something about that sounded familiar to Ciel. He remembered reading an article about marketing in south east Asia.

"Is this an Asian idea? You were the Funtom representative who went to Japan and Korea after all."

Her eyes shifted tellingly to the left and she hastily changed the subject. "It doesn't matter. In any case we need another couple of waiters or one really good looking one."

"Fine," Ciel huffed and scrutinised the people coming down the street.

Much to his surprise he locked eyes with a tall man with a long black fringe and scarlet eyes. The man walked past and smiled at him. Ciel frowned. It was unusual for people in London to make eye contact with each other let alone smile.

Behind him he heard his aunt squeal and he knew that she had found her fourth candidate. He turned back just in time to see her accosting him by pinching his bottom. He sighed exasperatedly and wondered if she had told any of them what she had gathered them for.

"What do you think, Ciel?" she asked him once she had encouraged the man to join the group of clueless candidates. "Is this enough people?"

"I think four is enough, there is no need to look for anymore," he said hastily. "Do any of them actually know what they are getting into?"

"I did explain to the first three, but not to the fourth," she turned to the fourth candidate. "What is your name?"

"Sebastian Michaelis," he answered and smiled again, flashing his white teeth at Ciel. "It's nice to meet you."

* * *

><p><strong>I probably should not be writing as I am starting uni properly next week, but I wanted to celebrate surviving fresher's week without drinking or going out. This also ties in with my course so it is technically revision or what is what I am telling myself...<strong>


	2. Second Cup

**Teacups and Teapots:**

**Chapter 2:**

Ciel eyed up the line of candidates that he aunt was currently talking to and wished for nth time that he had never listened to her. This was a disaster waiting to happen. Angelina had led the group of mismatched group of men back to his office and was in the middle of briefing them of where to meet the following day.

The teenager resolved to ask some of his contacts to CRB check the red haired one, Grell Sutcliffe as he looked a little deranged. Did females really like that type? He could not see his cousin Elizabeth liking him. It was likely that his aunt had only chosen Sutcliffe because he appeared to share her love of the colour red.

"So meet at this address at 10 o'clock tomorrow morning. I will be measuring you for your uniforms so you can all dress casually," she explained a little too enthusiastically and Ciel groaned quietly. More bottom pinching was likely to occur. "Do you have anything to add, Ciel?"

"No," he answered quickly. He needed some time alone with his aunt to ensure that she was planning this properly and was not making it has she went along.

The group filed out of his office with Bardroy, the chain smoker dropping another measure of ash onto the carpet and Sebastian Michaelis flashing another smile at him.

"Aunt Ann," he paused and attempted to prioritise his questions. "If you ever manage to get this teashop open and running, would it pass an environmental health inspection with Bardroy there? Look at my carpet!"

His aunt swatted this concern away with a flick of her hand. "They give you an inspection date, don't they? It can be his day off."

Ciel chose another important question. "What about Finny? He doesn't look that intelligent."

Angelina waved her hand again. "Females like men like that."

Ciel felt like hitting his head on his desk. "Could you please give me some proof about what "types" females like? Like a consumer survey. I'm not entirely sure I believe you about any of this? What would Dad say if he was here?"

"He would be pleased that Funtom has been able to adapt to changing circumstances. That is very important for any business."

Ciel knew there was some truth in that statement, but there were some other problems that needed to be sorted out.

"You didn't even ask them for their CVs," he sighed. "What kind of employer are you? You should have checked that they had experience in the hospitality industry."

As he expected his aunt did not look too perturbed. "The renovation work won't finish for another few days. There is time to train them, it shouldn't be too hard."

A very important question to ask occurred to Ciel. "Have you actually planned any of this properly?"

Madam Red grinned. "I have planned the theme and decor and the waiters will dress like butlers to match."

"What is the theme?" Ciel questioned nervously.

"Victorian England. I've ordered some classic tea sets and damask wallpaper."

Yet again something about this idea sounded strangely familiar to Ciel. He remembered being shown all the photos from his aunt's business trip to Japan. One of them had been of her being served tea by people dressed as butlers.

"That sounds like a ...butler cafe. Are you sure it will work for British people like it does for the Japanese?"

Now Madam Red looked unsure, but she quickly covered it up.

"Of course it will. Are you coming with me tomorrow?"

Ciel nodded immediately. He needed to keep an eye on his aunt before she concocted anymore outlandish ideas and he wanted to observe her training of the workforce.

* * *

><p>The teacup splintered and broke the moment the blonde idiot called Finnian picked it up and Ciel did not even bother to look up from his laptop as this was the tenth time he had done it. Thankfully for everyone involved it was only an inexpensive set as the proper ones had not yet arrived.<p>

"Perhaps try gripping it a little more lightly?" Angelina suggested casually with the only sign that she was annoyed being a slight tightening at the side of her mouth.

Upon seeing that, Ciel smiled nastily. He had found out that none of them had any experience with working in hospitality and none of them had ever made tea using loose tea as opposed to teabags. The only exception was Sebastian Michaelis who was working silently on the other side of the kitchen and had not broken any china yet. Ciel glanced over at the kitchen to see that Sebastian wasn't there anymore.

The scent of Earl Grey pervaded his sensed and he turned his head to see Sebastian Michaelis standing behind with a steaming cup of tea in his hand.

"I made this for you," he said and placed it down next to Ciel's laptop. Ciel picked it up doubtfully. The tea seemed to be the right colour; he hadn't overdone the milk or put too little in. He took a sip and sighed contentedly before remembering where he was.

"Is is to your liking?" the older man asked with a smile.

"Just a little," he replied and finished the cup. "At least someone here knows how to make tea."

The sound of china smashing caused bother of them to turn and see Finny picking up shards of a teapot. Ciel sighed and was about to return to his work when Sebastian sat down opposite him.

"You don't seem to be enthusiastic about this idea," Sebastian observed.

"Why would I be? It's doomed to fail," the CEO griped. "The only consolation is that she is paying for it and the Christmas boost in sales will cover any losses from this for a while."

"You can't deny that she hasn't done a good job with the interior design."

Ciel was forced to admit that he was right. The seating area was aesthetically pleasing with a large chandelier above his head that managed not to look tacky and he could attest to the comfiness of the armchairs. The red patterned wallpaper was not too obtrusive either.

"Maybe. Do you like your uniform?" he returned with a smirk. "You didn't look like you enjoyed being measured by my aunt."

Sebastian twitched and Ciel's smirk went up a notch. Madam Red had sneaked in some pinches here and there much to the man's obvious discomfort.

"Does this teashop have a name yet?" Sebastian changed the subject adroitly and the teenager realised it was appropriate to ask that. However he wasn't sure that he wanted to know what his aunt wanted to call it.

"Aunt Ann," he called out. "What is this place called? It had better be sensible."

His aunt rushed over, leaving Bardroy and Grell to supervise Finny.

"I'm glad you asked. What do you think of "Black Butler"?"

Ciel simply stared at her, guessing that he had heard properly. Angelina seemed to sense his disapproval.

"Well, we have butlers here and they are going to be wearing black. Sebastian, what do you think?"

Sebastian smiled and Ciel noted that it was more of a forced smile compared to others that had been directed his way.

"It sounds unique. There shouldn't be any copyright issues," he informed her. "It does indeed fit the theme."

Madam Red laid her hand on Sebastian's shoulder causing him to flinch.

"See, Ciel. Sebastian agrees with me. Can you come up with anything better?"

"I usually pay people to come up with product names," the CEO retorted. "That said, it would be a waste of company resources in this case. I suppose you can call it "Black Butler" then."

She clapped her hands triumphantly. "Now that we all agree on the name, we should all get to know each other properly."

"No partying," Ciel interjected, this time he could predict exactly what she was going to say.

"But Ciel," his aunt stared at him beseechingly.

"At least until Finny can make a palatable cup of tea," he relented slightly, assuming a little too quickly that it was never going to happen.

Five hours later, after many failed attempts Ciel gave his approval on Finny's tea making although it had tasted more like the tea Sebastian had made him, but considering how many watery and unappetising cups of tea he had been served over the past five hours, he let them all off.

Considering what he knew of his aunt's partying habits, he packed up his laptop quietly whilst everyone was busy discussing which club to go to and was about to creep out the door when a black clad arm blocked his way.

"Are you going somewhere, Ciel?" Sebastian enquired silkily. "I would like to get to know you better..."

Without thinking, Ciel backed away in the direction of his aunt. At least he could predict her actions fairly well when it came to partying. Sebastian Michaelis was an unknown entity for the moment.

"Did he try to sneak off? You're involved in this too, Ciel," Angelina reprimanded him.

Ciel's gaze slid to the door which was inconveniently being blocked by Sebastian and he knew there was no escape.

"Fine, I will stay, but I am not setting foot in a club, neither will I be drinking any alcoholic beverages," he huffed.

* * *

><p>The following morning Ciel woke up slowly, his eyelids feeling strangely heavy and his head seemed to ache for some reason. He opened his eyes gradually and took in his surroundings which were unfamiliar until his brain started to work properly.<p>

He was not in his bedroom. He was lying on the floor of his aunt's new teashop with Sebastian Michaelis leaning over him in concern.

What had happened the previous night?

* * *

><p><strong>I think <strong>**I have found a use for my flatmates' tales of their drunken escapades... Well, they do wake me up when they come back in and I put all their bottles in the bin...**


	3. Third Cup

**Teacups and Teapots**

**Chapter 3:**

"Are you feeling all right, Ciel?" Sebastian asked in concern, making Ciel that he was still staring at the man with a horror struck expression on his face.

"...What happened last night?" Ciel rasped, his tongue felt like sandpaper and he brushed his rumpled hair out his face with one hand.

"Someone spiked your glass of water- it was most likely your aunt. By spiking, I meant there was a tiny amount of vodka in it. Unfortunately, you are a lightweight drinker so the effects were immediate," he explained.

It began to dawn on Ciel that in addition to drinking alcohol and waking up with a hangover, he may have done something in between. Something embarrassing. He glanced up at the ceiling and down at himself. The chandelier was still there and he was still wearing his clothes which were encouraging signs.

Sebastian coughed. "Look around you properly."

Ciel complied and spotted an array of empty glass bottles and a set of cards strewn across one of the tables and caught sight of his aunt asleep on one of the sofas and Grell Sutcliffe spread-eagled on the floor nearby. Bardroy and Finny could also be spotted in the vicinity. Clearly the only person sensible enough to pass out somewhere comfortable was his aunt. He turned back to Sebastian and squinted at him. He didn't look like he had consumed large amounts of alcohol; the only difference was a red mark on his mouth.

"What happened to your lip?" he asked interestedly. "And how come you aren't passed out drunk with everyone else?"

"High alcohol tolerance and I'm sure everyone will be very willing to tell you what happened to my mouth. You're lucky that I'm not a germaphobe," Sebastian said cryptically and stood up. "Tea?"

The teenager stared after him in surprise, unsure what being a germaphobe had to do with the scab on his lip. He tried to sit up and the backlash from his head distracted him completely until Sebastian returned with a teacup.

"That had better not be Earl Grey," he groused. "I've had enough of it; it's all Finny's fault."

"It's herbal tea," Sebastian answered. "Would you like some help getting up?"

He held out his hand and Ciel took it after a moment of hesitation, his headache winning over his distaste of Sebastian's overfriendliness. Sebastian helped him into an armchair whilst Ciel cursed himself for not being able to remember.

He put the cup of tea to his lips and found that his lower lip twinged when he tried to drink the tea. He touched his lip and felt something hard that reminded him of dried blood or a scab. He wondered how it could have happened. Ciel decided that Sebastian might know the answer as he had one too.

The significance didn't occur to him until a few minutes later due to his headache and general state of confusion. Their scabs were mirror images of each other and were in the same positions. Did that mean...?

He shook his head. The teenager was very sure that he was one of those people were a boring drunk and not an amorous one. He did not kiss other men when he was drunk, his interests did not lie there and he certainly wasn't interested in Sebastian of all people.

"What's the time?" he asked when Sebastian offered him some paracetemol and a glass of water.

"Half past 11. Everyone has been asleep for most of the morning. I was going to let them sleep it off."

He held out the tablets and water to Ciel who knocked them back immediately.

"What are the cards for?" Ciel eventually questioned once his headache had settled.

Sebastian followed his gaze and smirked. "Ring of fire. It's a drinking game. It's quite effective in that everyone gets drunk very quickly."

Ciel groaned. "Did I take part in this game?"

The older man's smirk stretched even further. "Perhaps. In case you wanted to know, I won the game; I didn't pass out."

Ciel huffed. "Of course you won. You can do everything."

He realised what he had said when Sebastian's eyes widened and he raised his eyebrows.

"Are you jealous, Ciel?"

"No. I just find you annoying," he muttered and of course Sebastian picked up his words.

"Having a hangover really loosens your tongue. I'll remember that for the future."

The teenager narrowed his eyes at him, but did not retort, deciding that it would be best to remain silent before he gave Sebastian anymore material for teasing.

* * *

><p>His employees finally woke up early in the afternoon and were uncommunicative and half asleep for several hours until Grell suddenly pointed at Ciel.<p>

"I can't believe that you did that to Sebas-chan!" he wailed.

This seemed to wake everyone else up and they joined in.

"I never thought you would do something like that," his aunt added.

"What am I supposed to have done?" Ciel demanded and unconsciously put his hand over his mouth.

"I think you should apologise to Sebastian," Bardroy told him.

Ciel looked over at Sebastian and shot him a questioning look.

"It wasn't that bad, he could have done something worse," Sebastian said calmly. "It might also help if you told Ciel what he did- he doesn't seem to remember although I would have thought it would have been a memorable experience."

"I'll tell him!" Grell volunteered immediately and walked over to Ciel and pointed dramatically at his mouth. "You see that mark on your lip? That's from where you locked lips with Sebas-chan!"

A blush crept up Ciel's face and he cringed. Much to his horror, his half formed suspicion had been correct. He had kissed Sebastian. Fortunately for him, his brain was quick enough now to spot an error in Grell's story.

"Kissing doesn't give people marks on their lips."

Bardroy pushed Grell out the way and took over the explanation.

"You didn't really kiss him- you just landed on top of his lips when you fell of the table you were standing on."

Ciel sighed in relief and his heartbeat slowed down only to speed up when Bardroy continued on.

"It was what you did next that is the thing you need to apologise for."

"What did I do?" he asked with some trepidation. What could be worse than kissing Sebastian? He soon found out.

"You violated his mouth!" Grell screeched.

Ciel's eyes widened and he turned to Bardroy. "Did I?"

"Not in the way you're thinking," Bardroy began and winced. "Alcohol doesn't agree with you. Unfortunately for Sebastian you emptied the contents of your stomach into his mouth right after you landed on him."

A memory came flying back to Ciel. He had stood on a table for some reason and his balance had been affected by all the alcohol he had consumed causing him to fall off and land on top of Sebastian. He had locked lips with him and then he had thrown up straight away into his mouth.

Ciel made a face. Sebastian's germaphobe comment now made sense completely. He was lucky it wasn't the other way around as he had no idea how he would react if Sebastian had puked up into his mouth. Nevertheless, Bardroy was right, his action was worthy of an apology.

"I'm sorry," he apologised and avoided looking directly at Sebastian's eyes. "How is your mouth?"

Much to Ciel's relief Sebastian simply smiled and nodded.

"I have brushed my teeth since then. That said, in return for accepting your apology, you will have to do something in return."

Ciel looked up fearfully at Sebastian. Just when he thought the ordeal was over, something like this came up. He observed that Angelina was looking at him with shining eyes. She probably thought that Sebastian was going to ask to be his friend.

"I might come to collect a favour from you later on, when you least expect it."

Madam Red squealed and Ciel glared nastily at her.

"What kind of favour, Sebastian?"

Sebastian looked thoughtful. "I don't quite know yet. I will decide when I know your nephew better."

"What about getting to know me better first, Sebas-chan?" Grell swanned over to the man and poked him teasingly. "You completely ignored me last night. That's not good for a lady's heart."

Sebastian brushed him off whilst Ciel leaned over to whisper to his aunt.

"So in addition to hiring someone who is never going to pass an environmental health inspection, you hired a gender confused idiot?"

"Red is his favourite colour too," she retorted and her mouth stretched into a grin. "I hired someone for you too. I saw him smile at you yesterday so I hired him." Her voice dropped to an even lower volume. "I think he likes you..."

"Aunt Ann, did you really hire him because of that?" he griped and sighed. "He does seem to be the most competent employee so far so I can't complain. However, don't you dare do anymore match making."

She pouted at him. "But it's fun. Oh, I told Lizzie about this. Expect a visit from her sometime this week."

"Here or the office?"

"Here of course. I thought you would be here to oversee everyone and make sure they don't make any more mistakes."

"This is your side project," he said, beginning to get an idea of what she had intended. There was no way he was going to be here every day to watch Finny smash all of the china, Grell fawning over Sebastian and Bardroy breaking safety regulations.

"No, this is a new Funtom business," she corrected. "You are the CEO, you need to supervise them. If you didn't want to get involved, you wouldn't have come here yesterday."

"But-"

"Just for a week. It's not like there are any new products been developed at the moment so you don't need to go to the office. You can do all of your work here," she reprimanded him and altered her tactics. "I can't be the one to supervise them; I don't know the safety regulations like you do."

"Learn them then," Ciel argued back, but the compliment successfully softened him. "I will do it, just for a couple of weeks though. They should be self sufficient then."

His aunt threw her arms around him happily and Ciel hastily pushed her away.

"I told you that I don't like being touched!" he snapped at her and stormed out of the room.

Madam Red gave everyone a forced smile. "Ciel doesn't like to be touched so you should all be careful. You should have seen what happened to all of the psychologists I sent him to," she shuddered. "Sebastian, you should go after him."

* * *

><p><strong>Updates for this might not be too regular now, I've had Foundation Law shoved into my timetable much to me surprise. <strong>


	4. Fourth Cup

**Teapots and Teacups:**

**Chapter 4:**

Ciel sat down on the bench outside Black Butler and fumed. His aunt knew he hadn't liked contact since his kidnapping and yet she had hugged him like that. Granted, it was something that she had done in the heat of the moment, but his outburst had occurred in front of everyone, including Sebastian. He wasn't entirely sure why he cared so much about that fact.

Despite the weak autumn sunlight, Ciel noticed a shadow fall over him and assumed that his aunt had followed him out to apologise so he didn't bother verifying who was behind him before he spoke.

"Come to apologise?" he questioned coldly. "You know that I haven't liked being touched since the kid-" he broke off abruptly when someone sat down on the bench next to him and he jumped when he saw that it was Sebastian and not his aunt.

"What the hell are you doing here!?" he demanded and stood up to flee the scene before Sebastian asked him to finish his sentence.

He felt a hand grab him arm and he jerked back.

"I came out to see how you were. You can't solve your problems by constantly running away from it, Ciel," the older man told him.

Reluctantly Ciel sat back down and decided to make some things clear to Sebastian.

"Don't spout any psychologist babble to me again- I've seen enough of them to know all the vocabulary and you will look at me with pity when I tell you my reasons why."

He cast a look at him to see that there was only curiosity in Sebastian's eyes, no pity of sympathy. Perhaps Sebastian wasn't too annoying after all. Maybe.

"As you have probably guessed by the face I run my own company, I have no parents. They were murdered when I was ten," he explained. "I took over the company last year on my 18th birthday. It was run by Madam Red and one of my father's friends prior to then."

Ciel turned to look at Sebastian to check his reaction. Again, he didn't look pitying, he just looked intrigued.

"I think you are very talented to run a company at your age," Sebastian complimented him unexpectedly. "That said, I have never actually brought a Funtom product."

Ciel frowned. He had predicted that Sebastian would ask him about his kidnapping next as it had been rather obvious how his cut off sentence would have ended.

"You've never brought one of our products?" he tutted and glared. "I would recommend the caramel lollipops. I think I might have one on me."

He fished around in his pocket and brought out a slightly deformed lollipop and held it out at arm's length to Sebastian who looked very taken back by his offer. He accepted it and grimaced.

"It's a shame that I don't like sugary foods," he said with a smile as he examined the packaging. "The aesthetics are good though."

"You don't like sweets!" the teenager gasped.

Strangely enough Ciel had completely forgotten about his public outburst and devoted his full attention to questioning Sebastian.

"Sweets are bad for your teeth," Sebastian answered as he twirled the lollipop around his fingers.

This reminded Ciel of his conversation with Madam Red two days before about Funtom's sugar free confectionary line and the diuretic effect of the sugar substitute. He did still have some samples somewhere so he knew what he was going to do if Sebastian annoyed him again.

"We do have some sugar free ones in development," he said as innocently as he could muster. "They passed early tests, so let me know if you would like any."

He caught Sebastian's suspicious look and he had the feeling that Sebastian might just be aware of the effects of sugar alcohols or he had good preservation instincts.

"Don't go to any extra trouble for me," Sebastian said hastily and changed the subject, "Are you still not confident that "Black Butler" will be a success?"

"Have you ever heard of such a ludicrous idea before?" Ciel muttered before speaking normally. "You seem to be marginally more level headed than Aunt Ann, what's your opinion? She isn't here to listen in like last time."

Sebastian quirked an eyebrow. "Marginally? I am the only person here without a hangover."

"If you were sensible, you wouldn't be here. You would have run away from Aunt Ann immediately," Ciel retorted. "Anyway, give me your honest opinion."

Sebastian turned his head to look in the front window of the teashop and spotted Madam Red waving at him.

"I think your aunt wants us to come back in," he informed the younger boy. "I think cake baking was planned for today, although there isn't much of the day left."

At the mention of cake, Ciel perked up and stood up immediately. A thought of what Finny and Bardroy would bake with cake ingredients made him sit back down again. No cake lover wanted to see that happen.

"Aren't you coming?" Sebastian enquired and seemed to guess what was passing through is mind. "I am one hell of a cake baker myself so you don't need to be concerned about the quality of my baking."

"You're very modest," Ciel scoffed, but followed him back to the teashop anyway.

* * *

><p>Two hours later, as he had expected, Bardroy presented him something on a cake stand that looked like it had been in a fire and did not remotely resemble the chocolate cake he had been told to make.<p>

Ciel cut a slice out using a meat cleaver after bending several other knives.

"Did you even use the oven? It looks like you used a flamethrower instead," he commented dryly before pushing it to the side.

"How did you guess?" Bardroy grinned, causing Ciel to weakly slump in his seat.

Finny's carrot cake was next and was found to contain whole carrots instead of grated carrot. Grell's Victoria sponge followed after and contained copious amounts of red food colouring which affected the taste. Ciel was about to throw it in the bin when his aunt jumped in.

"I'll take this cake," she said and grabbed it from his hands. "You're too harsh on everyone."

"You just like it because it's red. You try it without gagging."

Ciel watched in satisfaction as she ate a mouthful and her face screwed up.

"Red colouring contains cochineal from insects and tastes very strong," he smirked. "Are you going to eat the rest of it?"

"Perhaps not," she winced and backed away from the cake. "Aren't you going to try Sebastian's cake?"

Ciel recognised that she was trying to distract him and he hated to lose an argument. However he preferred to eat cake that was actually edible so he let it slide in favour of being presented with Sebastian's devil's food cake.

The chocolate frosting was perfectly piped around the cake and the whole cake seemed to be level. One end of Finny's carrot cake had been higher than the other and the middle of Grell's had been sunken. Bardroy's cake was just simply charcoal.

Ciel dipped a finger into the frosting to have a taste and a blissful look passed over his face. He met Sebastian's amused eyes and his face flushed bright red.

"Did you make the frosting yourself?" Ciel enquired critically. "Or did you cheat?"

Sebastian looked mildly affronted. "Of course I made it myself."

The teenager cut a slice and examined the height if the layers and frosting and found no anomalies much to his disappointment. He tried a forkful and smiled unconsciously as the combination of chocolate frosting and cake was perfectly balanced.

"Is it good?" his aunt enquired before grabbing a fork and trying for herself.

"It is good," Ciel admitted reluctantly. "Well done, Sebastian. You can be in charge of teaching the others how to make tea and cook before the opening next week. Good luck."

As he spoke he felt someone poke him and he looked around to see Grell Sutcliffe glaring at him ferociously. He wondered why Grell was so annoyed with him now as he hadn't thrown up using Sebastian's mouth as a receptacle for the past twelve hours.

"What now?"

"You have been criticising everyone else for their tea and cake making skills. It's only fair that you demonstrate your own," Grell smirked and Ciel was very sure that he could see pointed teeth.

"I run a confectionary company," he returned, now beginning to feel apprehensive again. "I know a good cake when I see one; you don't have to make cakes to know that. The same goes for tea."

Grell leaned in closer. "Oh really? I still think you need to make a cake too, it's only fair. Don't you agree, Madam Red?"

Angelina's response was exactly as Ciel predicted it to be. Her eyes sparkled and she clapped her hands happily.

"That sounds wonderful," she enthused and threw an apron at her nephew. "What cake should we have you make?"

"A chiffon cake!" Grell suggested vindictively.

"This isn't the Great British Bake Off," Ciel snapped back.

"Black forest gateau," was Bardroy's input.

"Coffee cake," Finny said.

Angelina surveyed everyone critically and came to a decision before Grell could suggest an even more complex cake out of spite.

"Sebastian had the best cake and Ciel puked in his mouth so he gets to decide."

All eyes turned to Sebastian and watched him stroke his chin thoughtfully. After a minute of suspense he finally voiced his decision.

"Genoise sponge."

"A what?" Bardroy and Finny exclaimed at the same time.

Grell scratched his head in puzzlement. "Is it French or something?"

Fortunately for the trio of idiots, Ciel knew the answer and how complex it was going to be. He assumed that Sebastian was still offended by the puke thing or maybe he had worked out that he had been offered the chance to eat diarrhoea inducing lollipops.

"It's Italian, Grell," he groaned. "It's also a fatless sponge."

"How does that work?" the redhead frowned and then shrugged. "Nevermind. It's obviously difficult so off you go."

He pushed Ciel in the direction of the kitchen, making sure he was on the opposite side to Sebastian who immediately joined Ciel to annoy him.

"Are you sure that you can do this?" Sebastian asked and waited for the boy's eyes to narrow and glare at him. He wasn't disappointed.

"I will do anything to shut Grell up," Ciel sighed and leaned around Sebastian to reach the eggs and realised he had a problem. He knew in theory how it was made, but he had never made the cake before and he didn't know exactly how to separate egg white from egg yolk. "Do you mind separating the eggs for me?"

Sebastian cocked his head on the side and seemed to consider it.

"That's cheating."

"Grell didn't specify that cheating was forbidden," Ciel pointed out, quite accustomed to finding loopholes in contracts and agreements. "I will agree to never throw up in your mouth again."

Sebastian placed his elbows on the worktop and a glint appeared in his eyes.

"That's two favours you owe me now, Ciel."

* * *

><p><strong>Genoise sponge is made from whisking egg whites and is supposedly complex to make. I had to make it in Food Tech a couple of years ago and the only hard parts were separating egg whites and finding the willpower to whisk for half an hour. <strong>

**Well done to the annoymous reviewer who recognised where the vomit in mouth thing really came from. My flatmates aren't that bad, yet. They just like vodka, whiskey and karaoke and not cleaning.**


	5. Fifth Cup

**Teacups and Teapots:**

**Chapter 5**

"What kind of favours are they?" Ciel asked cautiously. Perhaps he would be better off trying to bake by himself than be in debt to a suspicious person he had only known for two days.

Sebastian looked thoughtful. "A tour of Funtom? I've become quite interested in it. I'll even sample that sugar free lollipop you offered me."

Inwardly Ciel sighed in relief. That was something that was possible.

"If that's not possible, I suppose I could ask you to go-"

"It's possible!" Ciel said hastily before anything worse could be suggested. He didn't want to consider how Sebastian's sentence was supposed to end.

He handed the egg box to Sebastian with a forced smile.

"I need six egg whites," he ordered.

He watched as Sebastian cracked all the eggs perfectly and let the egg white drain into a bowl, leaving the egg yolk behind. It didn't look that hard to Ciel so he grabbed an egg to have a go. Unfortunately for him he cracked it too hard and the yolk split and came pouring out along with the egg white. He glared at it and then at Sebastian who was shaking with silent mirth.

"It's not funny," Ciel pouted and picked out a second egg to have another try, only to be waylaid by Sebastian.

"Be less violent this time. It's an egg, not Grell's face."

Ciel smiled in spite of himself and gently tapped the eggshell with a knife and cracked the egg in half and slid the egg yolk into one half and let the egg white flow out.

"It worked!" he exclaimed victoriously and grinned at Sebastian.

Sebastian smiled back and passed Ciel his bowl of egg whites. "Let's see if you can master the next part."

Ciel ignored the jibe and plugged in the electric whisk, ready to start properly. He switched the whisk on and lost a third of his mixture in two seconds. Sebastian's hand shot out to change the level.

"That's too powerful, Ciel," he reprimanded him. "You'll lose all the egg whites I prepared for you out of the kindness of my heart."

Upon hearing that Ciel snorted and whisked the egg whites at a slower speed and was relieved when he achieved the desired result. The last thing he needed was to ask for Sebastian's help again.

"The egg white forms a foam because the protein chains in the egg denature due to mechanical action and unfold to form a network and trap air bubbles," he informed the older man. He may not be experienced in actual cooking, but he knew the science behind it.

To his surprise Sebastian did look interested; most people would have yawned.

"I suppose that is correct, I have just never thought about it in that way," he said and checked Ciel's mixture. "You can add the sugar."

An obvious question occurred to Ciel whilst he added the sugar.

"What is your background? My idiotic aunt didn't ask for any CVs so I don't know. You do seem to be skilled compared to the other three idiots here."

The older man seemed to take a while to consider his answer.

"...You could say that I have worked in the hospitality industry before," he said haltingly. "However not in the catering industry."

Ciel gave him a sharp look and returned to the cake mix which was turning out surprisingly well. Sebastian leaned over his shoulder to have a look, causing Ciel to flinch but he didn't squirm away like he was tempted to.

"You can add the flour now. It has to be sieved and folded in, do you need help with that?" Sebastian offered and Ciel could feel the tickle of his breath on his cheek and he stepped to the side to pick up the flour.

"If I say yes, will I owe you more favours?" he asked sensibly.

"No, I was going to do it for free considering the amount of fun I am having just by watching you."

Ciel scowled at him and weighed out the flour carefully before sieving a small amount into the mix and folding it in with a spoon. Or rather he tried. He felt, rather than heard, Sebastian snigger behind him.

"What does folding flour into cake batter do?" Sebastian questioned, surprising Ciel again. He had been expecting him to offer to do it for a favour.

"It helps retain air-" he broke off when he realised that Sebastian had taken his spoon whilst he was distracted and had done a neat figure of eight with the spoon to mix the flour in.

"That's how you are supposed to do it," Sebastian pointed and handed the spoon back to him. "Have a go."

Ciel was too exasperated to bother to glare and snatched the spoon from Sebastian's grasp and tried for himself. The flour didn't immediately disappear and he had to swirl it around a bit, but it did work in the end. He wasn't going to be actually working at Black Butler and he was sure his cake was going to be better than Grell's already. He smirked.

Sebastian's head came into view and Ciel lost his smirk.

"What are you smirking at, Ciel?"

The teenager ignored him and poured the cake mix into cake tine and put in the oven and set the timer. He felt something touch his head and he looked up to Sebastian patting him on the head.

"I think you did a good job, Ciel."

Ciel took a step back and looked Sebastian up and down.

"For some reason you have been very touchy feely today."

"Does it bother you?"

This made Ciel pause for thought. He hadn't felt an uncontrollable urge to push the man away; he attributed that to his attention mostly being on making Genoise sponge correctly. On the other hand, he usually automatically pushed people away without even thinking about it. His mind couldn't decide and something else came out of his mouth.

"Sebastian, your hair is slightly too long for hygienic practise. If you let it grow any longer, you will have to tie it back or wear a hairnet."

The curious look on Sebastian's face morphed into a mortified look and his hands reached up to touch his hair as if to make sure it was still there and Ciel took the opportunity to disappear from the kitchen until it was time to take the cake out.

Half an hour later he had two layers of Genoise sponge and he placed them by the open window to cool at the same Sebastian reappeared behind him.

"They look about right," Sebastian commented, getting very close to Ciel again. "Are you going to do the cream next?"

"Yes," Ciel replied and saw fit to add, "I don't your help. All I have to do is not overwhisk it otherwise Syneresis will occur."

"Syneresis?"

"Shrinkage of a gel and subsequent loss of liquid," Ciel informed him, happy that he knew something that Sebastian didn't.

"How come you know a lot about the science, but you have never made it before?" Sebastian asked interestedly.

"I run a confectionary company so it helps to know the science and I can be directly involved with new product development," Ciel explained. "As for why I don't make cake; it's just easier to purchase it and I have the money to get professional ones."

"Do you know what the difference between homemade cake and shop brought cake is?" The older man asked suddenly.

Ciel paused and then resumed pouring out the cream. That was an easy question to answer.

"Commercially made cakes contain preservatives and anti caking agents among other things to increase shelf life and retain palatability-"

Sebastian interrupted him. "That is right, but I was referring to something else. If you make something yourself for another person, it is generally made with love."

This caused Ciel to pull a disgusted face. "How sappy. I never expected a line like that to come out your mouth. You really do have a way with words."

He switched his attention back to what he was doing and hoped that Sebastian was not going to continue with the subject. He didn't like to be reminded that no one had made him a cake since his parents had been murdered and that had been alone since then despite the presence of his extended family.

Much to his annoyance Sebastian was still leaning against the worktop the next time Ciel looked up from piping the cream.

"Why are you still here?" he demanded. "I've nearly finished, you can't offer me anything else in return for a favour."

Silently Sebastian pointed at Ciel's attempt at a swirl.

"If you carry on like that Grell is going to be very happy."

Without replying Ciel removed it with a knife and had another go with turned out marginally better, but it still was not a recognisable shape.

"You can show me how it's done then," he sighed and held out the piping bag to Sebastian.

The man perked up and instead of taking it, he gripped Ciel's wrists to guide him. Ciel tried to wriggle out of the hold, but Sebastian's grip was too strong. The end result was a neatly decorated Genoise sponge and a very irate teenage boy.

"I'm very sure that I have made it clear that I don't like being touched," he griped at Sebastian as they waited for the others to return and evaluate the cake.

"I didn't ask for a favour this time," Sebastian answered. "Perhaps we should just make a contract, it would be easier."

Ciel stared up at him in puzzlement and was about to answer when Grell came bounding in holding a ruler and a spirit level for some reason. The others followed in less theatrically.

"Swirls are a bit cliché," the redhead comment disdainfully and began to measure them to check they were the same size.

Ciel was about to accuse him of being petty and then he remember he would have done the same thing. He found that it was annoying to be on the receiving end.

Grell laid the spirit level on top of the cake and looked angry when it deemed that the cake was level.

"Maybe we should just taste it," Angelina suggested after noticing the glaring contest between Grell and Ciel.

Ciel took Grell's murderous look after he had tried the cake to mean that it tasted good. Finny and Bardroy gave him a thumbs up and said they looked forward to working with him.

He offered Sebastian a slice and the older man reluctantly tried some.

"I think it turned out perfectly for a first attempt," he complimented.

"I agree," Finny said and Bardroy nodded too.

"I thought it was good," Angelina agreed.

All eyes turned to Grell who was pouting in the corner.

"I wasn't bad," he huffed.

Ciel smiled widely. Perhaps his aunt's idea wasn't too bad after all.

* * *

><p><strong>Don't ever overwhisk cream, it turns out like scrambled egg and looks gross.<strong>

**My flatmates cleaned up last week because we had a flat inspection and we passed. Now everything is a mess again. :(**


	6. Sixth Cup

**Teacups and Teapots:**

**Chapter 6:**

Ciel hated to admit it: his aunt had been right all along. Black Butler was teeming with females, mostly squealing teenage girls and even Grell was popular with them which was probably the biggest surprise for Ciel. He did have to admit that Grell did look slightly less psychotic when he was dressed in a black suit as a butler. Bardroy and Finny were popular with older females. Sebastian was simply popular with everyone.

He watched as Sebastian served tea to a large table of blushing girls. Ciel didn't know much about girls, but he was almost positive that Sebastian could have served them anything and they would have left happily. Perhaps they could save money by using less expensive tea. He made a note of it and resumed observing his employees.

Ever since he had made the Genoise sponge his relationship with everyone had improved. He wouldn't say that they were all best friends; it was more that they asked him for advice and he stopped making snarky comments from the sidelines about their abilities. It had probably helped that Finny hadn't smashed anything for several days and Bardroy smoked outside the premises instead of inside which was actually illegal.

"Would you like another cup, young master?" a familiar voice asked and Ciel looked up in surprise to see Sebastian standing next to him.

His aunt had decreed that all of the butler should address the customers as "young lady" or "young miss" and since Ciel was the only male customer, everyone called him "young master" during opening hours.

"Yes. Could I also have a death by chocolate cupcake?" Ciel requested.

They had all discovered that Sebastian could make any cake perfectly after spending several days suggesting every cake they could think of. Ciel had found those days extremely enjoyable, something to do with all the opportunities to eat cake. His favourite were Sebastian's Devil's food cake and his death by chocolate cupcakes.

"Of course, young master," Sebastian said and bowed, another one of Madam Red's ideas.

"You're really getting into your role," Ciel commented wryly. "It's quite strange to watch."

Sebastian simply smiled and walked away in the direction of the kitchen and Ciel took to observing Finny to occupy himself until Sebastian returned with his cake.

The blonde was coping fairly well with serving hordes of teenage girls and Ciel could tell that he was trying hard not to crush anymore teacups in his hands. If he did Ciel knew that even his aunt would be annoyed as the inexpensive sets had been replaced with high end china tea sets.

Madam Red herself was sitting alone in the corner at a small table and like Ciel, she was observing the stream of customers and unlike Ciel she was smiling brightly. He caught her eye and she mouthed something that looked like "I told you so" to him. He childishly stuck out his tongue in return and realised that all the girls sitting at the table in between them were staring at him strangely. Immediately he blushed and held up some paperwork to hide his face.

"You shouldn't do that in public, Ciel," Sebastian told him as he placed his cupcake in front of him and refilled Ciel's teacup.

"Why not?"

"...No reason in particular," Sebastian replied. "You can do it when you are with me though."

Ciel stared after him puzzlement and then strained his ears to listen in on nearby conversations. It was for market research of course. He wasn't his target market due to his gender and he still wasn't fully convinced that it was a marketable idea. Potentially, the novelty of being served by butlers could wear off quickly and he needed some target market feedback to gauge any signs of that occurring.

"That butler with dark hair is so fucking hot."

Ciel raised his eyebrows at the use of the profanity, but noted it down anyway. As had expected. Sebastian was the most popular.

"I think that butler with the red hair is a little creepy."

Whoever had said that had good taste, Ciel decided.

"That boy that stuck his tongue out at us was so adorable."

Hearing that comment made Ciel blush even darker and he found himself following the rest of the conversation.

"I wouldn't waste your time. He wouldn't be here if he was straight. Think about it, what kind of male would come to a butler cafe if he was interested in females?"

Rather understandably Ciel choked and hid his face. People thought he was gay because he was the only male customer at a butler cafe. The girls' conversation continued and he listened in reluctantly. He didn't like where it was heading.

"He seemed very close with that black haired butler if you know what I mean."

Ciel's ear picked up the sound of the girls gasping and he groaned. So, not only was he gay, he was gay with Sebastian.

"I think they look cute together."

"The age difference is a bit too much though," another girl said. "That boy looks about 12."

The 19 year old glared ferociously in their direction and packed up his paperwork to move table. He ended up sitting with his aunt as there were no other tables free and he sat facing the wall so he wouldn't have to make any more eye contact with those girls. The look on his aunt's face suggested that she had also overheard the conversation. This was confirmed when she gave him a suggestion.

"Perhaps you should somewhere more discreet next time."

"I think I might sit here next time, no one even noticed when you pinched Sebastian again," Ciel replied and looked down at the piece of paper she had in front of her. "What's that?"

"I've been taking notes for the past few days on what the customers seem to prefer," she explained. "For example, the uniforms are going down well. Sebastian is the most popular by far, Finny is considered to be cute, Grell is the gay best friend and everyone has a suspicion that you are gay."

"Maybe I should not stay after all, you seem to be keeping an eye on everyone as well. There is no need for me to be here," Ciel said, suddenly remembering what they had agreed on.

To his surprise his aunt seemed to panic. "You have to stay here, I won't be available for the rest of the week," she answered quickly."

Ciel eye her suspiciously. She was certainly keen for him to stay at the teashop and not at the office. Either she had a hidden agenda or she was forcing him to stay so he would make friends with everyone. She had tried similar things in the past so he went for that option. He took a bite of his cupcake and another option presented itself to him.

She had said that she had hired Sebastian purely because he had smiled at him on their first meeting. There was a chance that she was trying to match him up with Sebastian Michaelis. He made a face, that did sound like his aunt.

"I will stay, but only to observe. I'm not making any friends here," he warned.

He saw a shadow pass over the table and he knew exactly who was behind him.

"You offend me, I thought we were friends," Sebastian said.

"Why do you always have such appropriate timing?" Ciel demanded. Sebastian seemed to creep up on him a lot.

"It's just a coincidence," Sebastian answered and sat down next to Ciel.

"There is no such thing a coincidence," the teenager retorted. "Shouldn't you be working right now?"

"I'm on a break and I thought I would join my best friend, but he clearly isn't interested."

Angelina waved her hand. "He is just pretending that you aren't friends because a lot of customers think that you two have something going on. He got quite embarrassed, so please forgive his rudeness."

Sebastian's eyes widened. "They think... we have something going on?"

"It seems that none of them particularly mind. In fact they seem to quite enjoy it. I was surprised about that." She leaned forward in Sebastian's direction. "Do you mind?"

The butler was silent for a moment and when he finally answered he sounded unusually hesitant and Ciel wondered what was going though his head.

"I don't mind too much. I just find it a little strange, then again teenagers these days seem to be quite open minded," he glanced at Ciel. "Do _you_ mind?"

"Yes!"

"He's just annoyed that everyone seems to think that he is 12."

The teenager shot her a baleful look and stabbed his cupcake with a fork viciously. It may be annoying that people made presumptions about his age, but assuming his sexuality was another matter. He needed a way of dispelling his rumours. He recalled something that his aunt had said the week before about his cousin visiting.

"Aunt Ann, when is Lizzie coming for a visit?"

Having Lizzie with him would dissuade any rumours and there was a chance that she would keep Sebastian from being too close to him too.

"Tomorrow. She had to postpone last week's visit as she entered a last minute fencing tournament," Angelina said.

"Did she come first?" Ciel asked with a smirk, knowing his cousin's abilities very well.

"Of course. It's Lizzie."

"Is Lizzie your girlfriend?" Sebastian interjected suddenly, causing Angeline and Ciel to give him a sharp look.

"Does it matter if she is?" Ciel challenged, interested to see Sebastian's reaction and he wasn't disappointed.

Sebastian looked uncharacteristically annoyed and his face looked dark. Naturally he had displayed some annoyance previously when Grell had become very clingy. However it was nothing on the level that Ciel was seeing now and he wondered why.

"She likes cute things and my nephew is very cute," Angelina offered some information. "Her favourite colour is pink, but don't underestimate her. She is very good with a sword.

Sebastian raised an eyebrow. "It looks like I will have to be careful then."

"Why?" Ciel questioned. "She is only my-"

He broke off when he felt someone kick his leg under the table and he looked at his aunt who was winking at him.

"Don't mention that she's your cousin yet. Misunderstandings are fun..." she whispered in his ear.

Ciel groaned. His aunt was incorrigible. Clearly setting up the teashop had not been enough amusement for her or she was seriously trying to set him with Sebastian.

* * *

><p><strong>I apologise for the disjointedness of this chapter; I left the original behind in England again and I had to do it from memory. I hoped that someone might have cleaned up in the kitchen in my absence, but it's still a mess and there were two types of pasta blocking the plughole. <strong>


	7. Seventh Cup

**Teacups and Teapots:**

**Chapter 7:**

Elizabeth Midford arrived promptly the follow morning dressed in a pink Lolita dress with a cupcake shaped skirt accessorised with an impressive amount of pink jewellery. Ciel knew that she had been briefed by his aunt due to the fact that she never mentioned that she was his cousin to anyone she had been introduced to, but she hadn't claimed to be his girlfriend much to Ciel's relief because it would be awkward if they found out later that they were cousins.

She had immediately got on with Bardroy and Finny and they were currently discussing how to cutify their uniforms with Lizzie being the one making the suggestions and the pair politely demurring. She was less successful with Grell though. Complimenting his hair had warmed him to her, but it had backfired when she had mentioned how cute she thought Ciel was.

Sebastian had greeted her perfectly politely and had served her with a professional manner causing Ciel to wonder what his aunt's plan was. He had assumed she was trying to somehow make Sebastian jealous. For that to work Sebastian needed to have feelings for him in the first place and she hadn't asked Ciel how he felt about it. He wished that she was around so he could get it out of her. She had claimed to be on a business trip and Ciel was sure that nothing had been scheduled as Funtom weren't releasing any new products so he had a feeling that she had just taken a holiday.

"Lizzie, what do you think of the cake?" he asked her after she finally stopped persuading Finny to wear a pink bow in his hair. "I haven't tried the Strawberry Shortcake here yet."

"It's good!" she enthused and held out her fork to him. "Try it."

He was about to lean across the table to try it when someone put a place of Strawberry Shortcake in front of him.

"It would be better if you had a whole slice to yourself, young master," Sebastian said. "You do have an insatiable craving for sweet things. One small bite wouldn't be enough."

Ciel sat back and frowned. Sebastian never gave him cake unless he actually asked for it. There had obviously been some significance in his actions.

"How is it, young lady?" Sebastian turned to Lizzie.

"It's wonderful. Is it hard to make Strawberry Shortcake?"

"It's whisked sponge so you have to be good at separating egg whites," the butler smirked down at Ciel before adding, "You have to be careful not to overwhisk the cream so Syneresis will not occur." He winked at Ciel.

Ciel became aware that he could hear female customers squealing again and he sighed.

"Sebastian, do you have time to be doing this? The table over there hasn't been served yet. I might give you a paycut if you continue on like this."

Sebastian bowed and rapidly left them, clearly not relishing the prospect of a paycut.

Lizzie finished off before broaching a certain sensitive subject.

"Aunt Ann has been telling me a lot about you and Sebastian..."

Ciel's head snapped up. "What has she been saying?"

"Apparently I'm supposed to be acting as your "beard" today," she whispered. "She was unusually insistent."

"What's a "beard"?" Ciel asked hesistantly. "I have a feeling that I don't really want to know."

"It's when a gay man pretends to date a female so he looks like he's straight," Grell jumped into the conversation. "You had better not have an interest in Sebas-chan, brat."

Ciel shuffled in his seat to get away from the redhead. "I don't. You're free to flirt with him. Just don't do anything in front of the customers-"

"He's already gone," Lizzie gestured to where Grell was hanging off Sebastian who looked extremely disgusted. "Aunt Ann certainly hired a variety of people. How are profits?"

Ciel held up the relevant spreadsheet to show her.

"Surprisingly good. It is only the first week though. Profits may drop off at a later point."

"Hopefully they won't," Lizzie said. "Is this place being run with company money? With the current state of affairs I didn't think you would agree to use company funds."

Ciel shook his head. "It's Aunt Ann's pet project although she left me here to keep an eye on everyone. She is paying for everything. In the unlikely event it proves to be a stable business, Funtom will take it over," he paused. "How did you know Funtom is in trouble?"

"Tanaka told Mum. You know how she likes being kept up to date."

The CEO felt suddenly nervous.

"Aunt Frances isn't planning to visit here, is she? She isn't going to be happy when she sees everyone's long fringes."

He shuddered and searched for something to different to talk about. He spotted that his cousin had cream left from the Strawberry Shortcake left in the corner of her lips.

"You have cream there," he pointed and she hastily wiped it off with a flower patterned napkin.

"You have too. Should I wipe it off?" she reached out.

As she did a hand gripped Ciel's chin and he knew exactly what was going on as someone gently removed the cream from around his mouth.

"You're such a messy eater, young master," Sebastian chastised him.

Thankfully for Ciel, Lizzie asked the question that he wanted to ask and since she wasn't him she got a slightly sensible answer.

"Sebastian, are you stalking Ciel? You keep turning up whenever I try to get close to him. Are you jealous?"

The butler smiled down at her. "Keeping him clean and supplied with sweets is my duty. As for your other question: I know you two are related."

Ciel's eyes widened. He had no idea how Sebastian could have known that. The only conversation that would have given them away had occurred whilst Sebastian was in the kitchen. Had Sebastian looked up his records?

"How did you know that?" he demanded suspiciously.

Sebastian tapped his chin. "Intuition. You two don't act like lovers, you're too stiff, but you aren't uncomfortable around each other which suggests you are friends or are related. Judging from one of my conversations with Ciel, he has no friends so I deduced that the second option was the correct one. Considering that you are an only child, are you cousins?"

The teenager had to admit that Sebastian was slightly intelligent in addition to being able to make any cake.

"That was a good deduction," Lizzie complimented the older man. "Can you deduce anything else?"

"You're only here because Ciel wants to look like he is in a relationship so the customers don't think he is interested in me," he turned to Ciel. "That plan isn't working by the way."

"Why?"

"I've been listening in. It's had the complete opposite effect. Everyone here is thrilled about the prospect of a love triangle. Some are even calling their friends over to witness it. Your aunt has a good eye for fanservice."

Ciel ran an agitated hand through his hair. Of course there was a reason behind why his aunt had invited Lizzie over and why she had hired Sebastian. She was highly unscrupulous when it came to marketing, but she obviously knew the target market well and had done her research.

He wondered if there was any chance that he could just leave the teashop now. Everyone was doing well without him and he hadn't needed to intervene for a few days so "Black Butler" would be fine without him.

"Sebastian, you're in charge tomorrow. Call me if anything goes wrong." He flashed one of his best fake smiles and Sebastian did one in return.

"You can't run away from everything, Ciel," he said. "You have quite a dilemma and a question to ask yourself. Your company is in danger of bankruptancy, is it not?"

Ciel nodded reluctantly.

"If you run away now, "Black Butler" will lose one of its main attractions. So you must ask yourself what matters more; profit or pride?"

Ciel knew that Sebastian had made a very good point. Funtom had been owned by the Phantomhive family for generations and he didn't want to be the Phantomhive that allowed it to go bankrupt. He would regret it forever.

Nevertheless, when did providing fanservice for females become part of his company role? The idea of consciously acting like that with his cousin and a highly annoying make employee was not a pleasurable prospect to say the least. He pulled a face. Recalling that none of them knew that Lizzie was his cousin and Sebastian was the most capable employee that made the best cake made it slightly more appealing,

"...How long do I have to keep it up for?" he signed and resigned himself it. If it helped save the company he would have to do it.

"How about forever?" Sebastian suggested with a quirk of his eyebrows.

"That's pushing it."

"I am sure that you owe me two favours..." the butler grinned.

Ciel stared at him in horror. He had forgotten that he owed Sebastian two favours. His cousin sensed his distress and interceded on his behalf.

"Sebastian, Ciel does have to go to the office to work so he obviously can't keep the act up full time. Ciel, when do you stop supervising everyone?"

"At the end of next week," he answered her, feeling very glad that she had spoken up. If she hadn't he didn't want to consider what he would have had to agree to.

"After next week you can occasionally visit for some cake. That will provide entertainment," Lizzie said and switched her attention to Sebastian. "Do you have any problem with that idea? It provides a balance."

"I suppose I shall have to make do with seeing Ciel only a few times a week," Sebastian sighed theatrically and returned to his normal self. "Would either of you like any more cake?"

After Sebastian left, Ciel's focus returned to his work and only when he reached for another data sheet did he realised that Lizzie was missing. He decided that she had gone to the toilet and didn't think to consider that she might have followed Sebastian which she had done.

Sebastian was heading outside for his break when someone called out to him.

"What are your intentions towards my cousin?"

He turned to see Elizabeth Midford standing behind him, still managing to look threatening despite all the pastel pink she was wearing.

"What do you mean by that? We are simply friends," he answered and took a step forward away from her.

He heard her step closer to him and he knew he wasn't going to escape with just that answer.

"If you knew we were related, why did you bother getting in my way?"

Sebastian turned to face her. "Because only I can get close to him. Do you have a problem with that, Miss Midford?"

* * *

><p><strong>You know that fun times are over when you have to ask for a printer and Report 41 by the Department of Health for your birthday... <strong>

**On the lighter side I went to ComicCon on my birthday with a flatmate and I had fun. **


	8. Eighth Cup

**Teacups and Teapots:**

**Chapter 8:**

Ciel looked up as his cousin sat back down. Her eyes were dark and narrowed. He only ever saw her look like that when she was up against a tough opponent. He briefly wondered if she had had a fight in the girl's toilets, but the sensible side of his mind rejected that.

"Are you all right? Did something happen in the toilets?" he asked and watched as her face rapidly turned blank.

"I'm fine. I nearly dropped my phone down the toilet," she said and picked up her teacup quickly. "The tea is cold."

Ciel looked around for the nearest employee to find it was Finny. He waved and the blonde bounded over happily.

"What can I get you, young master?"

"Lizzie would like refill of her tea," Ciel said and checked what tea it was. "Ceylon."

"Would you like any more cake?" Finny offered.

"Does everyone here offer Ciel cake?" Lizzie asked suddenly and Ciel knew what was coming.

"Some cake has fruit, it's part of your 5-a-day," he protested.

"Ciel, you're 19 and the owner of a confectionary company, you know it doesn't work like that," he reprimanded him before turning back to Finny. "I will just have tea, thank you."

Finny moved away and left Ciel to be lectured by Lizzie.

"Of course I know my dietary guidelines. I have updated all of the nutritional labelling on the confectionary to be in line with new labelling legislation," Ciel argued.

Lizzie looked doubtful. "That's good. How much work can you get done here? I would not say that this place has the best working atmosphere."

Ciel nodded in agreement. "Some of the financial reports don't quite add up at the moment. It's probably because it's hard to concentrate here with Sebastian stalking me and Grell stalking Sebastian..."

"You will not have to put up with it for much longer," she smiled a little too cheerfully. "You will get plenty of work done next week."

Ciel cast her a suspicious look, noting that she seemed happy about him not having to stay at the teashop.

"Don't you like this place? I thought you would like it."

"Under normal circumstances I would. Everything is very cute and the cake is high quality, but..." Lizzie paused.

Ciel looked at her expectantly. "Yes?"

"It doesn't matter," her gaze lifted to something behind Ciel and he looked around to see Sebastian walking towards them with a teapot in his hands.

Lizzie pushed her teacups towards him and smiled acerbically.

"Your outfit has a sophisticated aesthetic, Sebastian."

Ciel observed as Sebastian gave her a quizzical look before adding milk to her tea.

"...Thank you, young lady."

Lizzie smiled again and Ciel was sure that it was more of a smirk than a smile. Something strange seemed to be going on between his cousin and Sebastian.

"That said, I prefer a cuter look myself," she said and bent down to rummage in her pink handbag. "There!"

As she spoke she drew something pink out and swiftly placed it on Sebastian's head before he could do anything to stop her. Ciel snorted with laughter when he saw what it was. Sebastian was now wearing a frilly pink bonnet on his head.

"What do you think of this look, Ciel?" she asked him brightly.

"It's never going to get Aunt Ann's approval," he grinned and spotted Finny and Bardroy shaking with laughter a few metres away. "You can both take photos, I'm sure Sebastian will not mind. Right, Sebastian?"

The butler in question turned to look at the laughing pair and they both stiffened and mysteriously rushed off in the opposite direction.

"I am honoured that you took the effort to make me look cuter. However, may I take it off now?" he requested politely.

"You can keep it if you like," Lizzie said. "_Ciel _seems to like it though. Look at his face."

Sebastian caught Ciel's eye and the teenager tried to suppress a snort and failed.

"Perhaps I will keep it," he said and picked up the teapot again. "Let me know if you would like anything else. Elizabeth, remember to watch your waistline."

With that parting line he left them.

Ciel was surprised by the pettiness of Sebastian's comment and it only fuelled his suspicions that there was something strange going on. He remembered Lizzie's absence earlier on and wondered if she had talked with Sebastian.

"Lizzie, did you have a fight with Sebastian or something?" he asked and observed her reaction.

Her eyes widened and she laughed a second too late.

"No, I didn't have a fight with him. We just had a brief conversation about a subject common to us."

* * *

><p>The next day at Black Butler proved to be difficult. There was a record number of customers and Ciel's attempts to hide himself in the corner were unsuccessful. It appeared that word of a love triangle had spread and he was now being subjected to being stared down by teenage fangirls.<p>

The sight of Sebastian approaching made him wince. He could already hear squealing and his ears couldn't take anymore. He remembered when he used to think that Lizzie squealed too much.

"I thought I told you to stay away. I can't take anymore staring or squealing," he hissed once Sebastian was close enough to hear him.

"I was respecting that order, but we have a situation in the kitchen," the butler informed him. "You're the supervisor; you need to take care of it."

Ciel stood up and was prepared to follow him to the kitchen when he realised what it would look like if they disappeared together.

"I'll come in a few minutes, you go on ahead," he whispered.

Sebastian looked amused and pulled him by the arm. "You might as well do something to get the customers excited."

After being dragged past the customers by Sebastian, Ciel was half exasperated and half relieved to discover what the situation was.

"You brought me here to tell me that we have run out of Earl Grey tea?"

Bardroy folded his arms. "It's our most popular tea and it's only 11 in the morning. I considered it to be an emergency so I told Sebastian."

Ciel sighed. "Just take it off the menu. There are plenty of other varieties available here."

Sebastian and Bardroy exchanged looks.

"We're running low on all the popular ones," the chain smoker told him.

The teenager changed his stance instantly. It was typical of his aunt not to consider stock control systems.

"Where's the nearest supermarket?" he asked. "I know my aunt ordered all the specialist expensive teas, but we don't have time. No one will notice a difference in quality; they're too busy staring at me or Sebastian."

"That is the only way out of this," the black haired butler agreed. "Who is going to go?"

Grell, who had been lurking in the doorway finally contributed to the conversation.

"The brat should go. He doesn't exactly pull his weight around here."

"I have no idea where it is," Ciel argued and in a quieter voice he added. "I hate crowded places."

He felt someone pat him on the head and he looked to find it was Sebastian.

"I will go with you."

"Doesn't that defeat the purpose of sending the brat-" Grell was cut off by Bardroy.

"Don't take too long."

Ciel kept close to Sebastian as they navigated the busy street outside the teashop. He avoided being out in London as much as he could and the last thing he wanted to do was get separated from the person that actually knew the way. He noticed that Sebastian kept turning to look back at him as if to make sure that he was still behind him and Ciel found that he didn't mind and it was actually comforting.

They spent a while in the tea section of the supermarket debating the merits of different brands of tea and evaluating newer types of tea. Ciel had never heard of the diet forms of tea and neither had Sebastian.

"Perhaps I should look into these new products," Ciel mused aloud. "I didn't know there was such potential in tea and I drink it every day. Some of these are probably fad products though."

"Have you tried liquorice tea?" Sebastian pointed at the relevant box. "I found it didn't taste anything like actual liquorice."

Ciel shook his head and picked up the box. "I generally stick to normal teas like Darjeeling. Lizzie is the one that drinks fruit teas. Perhaps I should try some new varieties. What would you recommend?"

Sebastian looked surprised that Ciel had actually asked for his advice and then he straightened up and walked down the aisle, pointing at different teas.

"Don't bother with that variety, the flavour is too weak. Stay away from New Moon Drop. This one is good, that one isn't."

In the end they ended up buying all the tea and fifteen more types.

"Will that tea really taste like salted caramel?" Ciel asked curiously as they walked back to the teashop.

"Only if I make it," Sebastian stated simply. "Don't get anyone else to make it for you."

Ciel replied without thinking. "Why would I? I can only drink tea if it is made by you."

He realised what he said a few seconds later and hastily back tracked. He could not have Sebastian getting an inflated opinion of himself.

"You make it better than me, I can only use teabags."

Sebastian raised his eyebrows. "Oh really? Perhaps I should stop serving you tea and get Grell to make it for you instead."

Ciel shuddered in disgust. Usually Grell's tea was passable, but he had been in a foul mood when he and Sebastian had left and he wouldn't put it past the redhead to put something in his tea. Grell was as conniving as his aunt and she had been responsible for his hangover the previous week and the current situation.

"I take it back!"

Sebastian smiled widely. "That's good. There's no need to feel shy about saying complimentary things about me."

"You make the best cake and you attract lots of customers. That is the extent of your good points," the teenager retorted and walked off before remembering once he was a few metres down the street, that he didn't know the way back.

He stopped and looked around for Sebastian and began to feel worried when he couldn't see him in the crowd of pedestrians. Someone tapped him on the shoulder and he sighed in relief to find it was Sebastian.

"Don't walk off again, especially if you don't know the way back, Ciel," the older man said. "Perhaps we should hold hands in case we get separated again."

"Can we not? I'm not a child anymore," Ciel said and felt someone push past him causing him to change his mind. He held out his hand. "Sebastian, don't get any ideas that I actually like you; I'm only doing it so I don't get lost."

* * *

><p><strong>This chapter reminded me of all the time I spent in the tea aisle of Marks and Spencer when I was writing Torture and Tea and I had to update my research a little as there are lots of new tea products on the market. More time spent in the tea section and I don't even like tea. <strong>


	9. Ninth Cup

**Teacups and Teapots:**

**Chapter 9:**

Funtom had been restocked with tea several days ago and Ciel was content, but not happy. Sebastian had not let go of his hand even when they had returned to the teashop meaning that everyone had seen them holding hands. His aunt had even heard about their "date" and had texted to him to check if the rumours were true.

Sebastian's attitude towards him had also changed. He seemed to have taken Ciel's permission to hold hands as permission to touch him anytime. It was sometimes a pat on the head, a stroke to the cheek. It happened so frequently that Ciel could not be bothered to complain or protest anymore. In fact he had become quite accustomed to it. He would definitely react if Sebastian took it any further though.

He took a sip of Salted Caramel tea and caught sight of Sebastian approaching him.

"Would you like anymore cake, young master?"

"That's the fifth time you have offered me cake in the past hour. I still haven't finished my last slice," Ciel pointed out. "If you are trying to fatten me up, you aren't going about it in the right way."

"Sorry, I will alternate it with fruit next time," Sebastian said. "That said, would you like anymore cake?"

"No!"

Ciel wondered why Sebastian was going to such lengths to get him to eat cake. Bardroy who was walking past with a heavily laden tea tray provided the answer.

"He isn't trying to make you gain weight, he is acting under orders."

"Whose orders? I'm your boss."

Sebastian produced a folded up sheet of red paper from his pocket and laid it on the table in front of him. Ciel guessed who the sender was immediately; only his aunt would use notepaper that colour. The note read:

Sell all of the cake and send Ciel and Sebastian on a date to replace stock.

Upon reading that note Ciel let out a groan. Clearly setting up the teashop, spiking his drink and creating a false love triangle wasn't enough excitement for her. She seemed to want them to date for real. He opened his mouth to complain and realised that he couldn't be bothered. It wouldn't do anything.

"Let me know when you have sold all the cake," he said simply.

Sebastian looked surprised that he wasn't putting up a fight and nodded before walking away.

Ciel pouted. He liked cake, that was all. He wasn't going to refuse an opportunity to buy cake. He found a bakery that he wanted to visit and hadn't had any free time to go and now he had the perfect pretext. It didn't matter if Sebastian came along or not.

Sebastian returned an hour later to say that there was only one slice of Red Velvet cake left and they needed to leave soon. Ciel's plan hit an unexpected snag when he gave Sebastian the address of the bakery.

"That is quite far from here. We will either have to hold hands for a very long time or take the tube."

Ciel knew there was no way he was going to take the tube and he frowned. Sebastian seemed to sense his thoughts.

"We could always go to the cafe down the road to sample their cake and call it market research."

* * *

><p>The cafe Sebastian led Ciel to was a five minute walk down the street and Sebastian insisted that they should hold hands the entire way just to be safe. Ciel didn't put up a fight as it was easier to agree. He pulled out a notebook to take notes as soon as they entered the cafe.<p>

The decor was a complete contrast to Black Butler as it was modern and open and the lighting was bright and harsh. Ciel sat down on a strangely shaped plastic chair and winced at how uncomfortable it was. He had become too accustomed to the armchairs at Black Butler.

"Who thought these chairs were a good idea?" he griped as he tried his best to sit up straight.

"Some design university graduate," Sebastian answered, seeming to feel the same way and passed Ciel the menu. "Are you going to note down the varieties of tea and cake."

Ciel took the menu and scanned the list of available tea with a disdainful eye.

"There are more herbal teas on here than traditional and a few fad ones. They don't even do the other types of Earl Grey," he sniffed and noticed that Sebastian was trying to hide a smile. "Is there something wrong?"

"I am enjoying your criticism of every little thing. It shows how much you really like Black Butler even though you pretend not to," he smirked and changed the subject before Ciel could protest. "Are you going to order one of every tea?"

"No, I'm saving that for the cake," Ciel answered seriously. "I will just have one of all the normal teas."

The butler picked up the menu, counted the number of teas and checked his pocket watch.

"We are going to here a long time. It's a good thing I had some extra cakes left so Black Butler will be fine without us."

Ciel stared in surprise. "Why did you tell me that we had run out then?"

"Because I wanted to spend some time with you alone and I needed a pretext."

After saying that line Sebastian stood up to order, leaving Ciel alone to digest that statement. That had to be the boldest line that Sebastian had come out with so far which made him fear what Sebastian could say in the future. He only had to spend one more day left at the teashop and then he would be back to the sanctuary of his office. There would be no more incompetent gender confused butlers, fangirls and overfriendly dark haired males. It would be peaceful again.

In fact that sounded a little boring to him now.

He had become accustomed to the chaos at the teashop and there was a chance that he might actually miss it. He told himself that he was out to make profit, not make his life interesting.

He jumped when Sebastian started to place a number of teapots on the table. Ciel took note of the plain white colour of the crockery, missing the colourful tea sets at Black Butler.

"We should try the tea first before it gets cold," Sebastian suggested after he had finished laying out all the teacups and teapots.

"Did anyone think it was strange that you ordered so much tea?"

"No, the woman that took my order seemed to have a very red face and looked dazed the whole time. I think I could have ordered something that wasn't on the menu and she wouldn't have noticed," the butler explained. "Should we try the Earl Grey first?"

He poured out a cup for Ciel and one for himself. Tentatively Ciel took a sip and found it tasted like the cup hadn't been washed out properly. He looked over at Sebastian who was also pulling a disgusted face.

"Did you enjoy that?" Ciel asked teasingly. "It was much better than yours."

"Stop lying," the butler glared. "Or I really will get Grell to make your tea from now on."

"It's Ceylon next," Ciel said and reached out to pick up the next teapot.

The next half an hour passed like that. Sebastian would pour the tea and Ciel would pass a judgement, usually a negative one and the butler would add his own opinion.

"Out of 35 cups, only 2 were actually decent," Ciel summarised. "I have tried every type and everyone's tea and Black Butler and even Bardroy's tea making is not that bad. I wonder why."

Sebastian perked up. "It's possibly because the temperature of the water is too low and the water in some teapots tastes like it has been reboiled so there is a higher concentration of minerals which does affect the taste."

"I never knew that," the teenager admitted reluctantly and racked his rains for a fact about tea that would outdo Sebastian's. "Did you know that it is better to add tea to milk than milk to tea?"

He was disappointed with the butler's answer.

"Yes, I did. I know most of the things there are to know about tea," he saw the downcast look on Ciel's face and rectified his statement. "I may know a lot about tea, but you probably know more about sweets and cakes."

Ciel smiled at the compliment. "Of course I do. I do own a confectionary company after all."

He glanced at Sebastian to observe his response and noticed that he was staring at something behind Ciel in the street. He was about to turn his head when Sebastian grabbed his shoulders.

"Why can't I look?" Ciel demanded.

Sebastian kept his eyes on whatever he was seeing.

"Are you sure you want to see your aunt with her boyfriend?"

Instantly Ciel turned round to see his aunt who had been unavailable by phone, standing outside a shop opposite the cafe, dressed in her customary red coat and hat, standing next to none other than Grell Sutcliffe.

"Shouldn't Grell be working right now?" Ciel asked eventually, once he had recovered from the shock.

"He does have a short break this morning. I was joking about the boyfriend thing; their body language is wrong for them to be dating."

Ciel breathed a heavy sigh of relief. His main fear had been that he would end up with Grell as his uncle. He shuddered at the prospect. However, that did leave the question of why his aunt was meeting Grell. He remember her text about his handholding with Sebastian.

"Perhaps Grell is her informer. She knows a lot more about what goes on at the teashop that she should considering she is never there," he theorised.

"That is probably it," the butler agreed. "Should we move on to the cake next? I am looking forward to hearing your criticisms. Your comments about the tea were very creative. I especially like it when you said they were all inferior to mine."

Ciel ignored him and turned back to check if his aunt was still there. It looked as if her and Grell's conversation was ending and a few minutes later the male redhead waved goodbye and rushed off in the direction of Black Butler. His aunt went off in the opposite direction.

"I can't believe she gets all of information about me from _Grell," _he muttered. "It would be slightly better if it was Bardroy or Finny."

"Look on the bright side, it's simply a business transaction, not a romantic liaison. Grell isn't going to be your new uncle anytime soon," Sebastian winked at him.

"I suppose it's for the best," Ciel moaned and his eyes fell on the first cake that Sebastian had put down on the table.

"Is that supposed to be a Victoria sponge? It looks like an explosion. No marks for presentation," he commented and dug into it with a fork only to feel resistance."It's also quite dense. Even yours is better."

Sebastian sat back down opposite him and smiled.

"I enjoy hearing how reluctantly you compliment me. Can't you just agree that I am one hell of a butler?"

* * *

><p><strong>I apologise for the long wait. I had a number of assignments due and the chapter had to wait unless you all wanted a chapter about food safety management and HACCP plans. I also caught the cold that had been going around uni on the last day which made the delay longer.<strong>

**Merry Christmas, if you celebrate it that is. The excitement of getting SHINee World II was too much and I keep having to have lie down to recover as I am ill so please overlook any spelling or grammar mistakes.**

**P.S. If any of you wash your turkeys or meat under the tap you will have me to answer to. It's dangerous!**


End file.
